Alpages sentinelles – mountain pastures and climate change

The Alpages sentinelles project mobilizes a wide network of players throughout the French Alps (protected natural areas, agricultural and pastoral technical services, breeders and shepherds, research organizations) to carry out work at the interface between scientific research and development actions.

The Alpages sentinelles system is a Research & Development program that aims to:

• Analyze climate change in alpine pastures
• Understand the consequences of these changes on vegetation (biodiversity, forage resources available to herds)
• Rationalize the capacity of pastoral systems to find room for maneuver and ways to adapt

The scheme owes its originality and strength to the complementary nature of its three components:

• A long-term observatory on some thirty mountain pastures in the French Alps, to monitor changes in weather conditions, vegetation and grazing practices.
• Interdisciplinary working groups for the production and dissemination of technical and scientific references, at the service of local stakeholders.
• A forum for exchange and debate, to share views and contribute to the emergence of a shared culture on climate change and the challenges of pastoral management of mountain pastures.

The system is supported by a number of partnerships:

• Territorial partners: National Parks (Vanoise, Écrins, Mercantour), Regional Nature Parks (Vercors, Mont-Ventoux, Luberon), Natura 2000 site of Dormillouse – Lavercq (Ubaye), Asters-CEN74.
• Agropastoral technical partners: Adem, Cerpam, FAI, Réseau des Chambres d’Agriculture, SEA 73, SEA74
• Scientific partners: Agate, CNRS, Ferme expérimentale de Carmejane, Labex ITTEM, Leca, Météo France, Montpellier SupAgro, Pacte, Station Alpine Joseph Fourier, Zone Atelier Alpes, Université Grenoble Alpes.
• Political and financial partners: FNADT (State), Fonds Feder (EU), Labex ITTEM, Région Sud, OFB